Facile synthesis of new polyhedron-like WO3/butterfly-like Ag2MoO4 p–n junction photocatalysts with higher photocatalytic activity in UV/solar region light

A series of novel efficient polyhedron-like WO3/butterfly-like Ag2MoO4 p–n junction photocatalysts (denoted as AMW-x) were designed and synthesized. The exact phase structure, microscopic morphology, electrochemical properties, physical properties and optical properties of the prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM, HRTEM, UV-DRS, PL, FL, XPS, UPS, BET, MS (Mott–Schottky test), EIS and photocurrent measurements. The photocatalyst could effectively degrade rhodamine B (RhB) under UV/Solar region light illumination. In this system, a p–n junction structure formed by the two different materials effectively enhanced the generation rate of photo-induced electrons and reduced the transfer resistance. These results exhibited that enhanced photocatalytic performance of materials were prepared. The activity of AMW-20 was 548.2/496.8, 57.9/146.1, and 3.7/17 times higher than polyhedron-like WO3, butterfly-like Ag2MoO4, and commercial powder (P25) under UV/Solar region light illumination. The photocatalytic mechanism mode for the improved photocatalytic performance was also proposed.